South Carolina is now 0-4 when playing away from Colonial Life Arena on the 2022-23 season. This one fell apart pretty quickly, with George Washington jumping out to a 17-point lead in the first 13 minutes of action. South Carolina scored a measly 20 points in the first half, and that was including an 8-2 run to end the first half, thanks to two 3s from Chico Carter, including a buzzer-beater to end the half. The Gamecocks continued to struggle with settling for jump shots that they couldn't knock down consistently and giving up too many easy shots on defense, though they did find some success when they switched to the 1-3-1 zone prior to halftime, and they ran it with some success in the second half as well.

Meechie Johnson made a 3 after 27 minutes of game time to become to first Gamecock other than Chico Carter Jr. to make a 3 in this one, but not for a lack of trying. While South Carolina continually struggled to hit jumpers, especially from beyond the arc if your name wasn't Chico Carter Jr., George Washington seemed like they couldn't miss from 3 through various stretches of this one, including a 14-2 run early in the 2nd half. Altogether, South Carolina finished with a respectable 8-25 (32.0%) from 3, but many of those fell late when the game was decided. George Washington however made an impressive 12-27 (44.4%) from 3 and they made them in back-breaking bunches.

Thus far this season, despite the up-and-down team performances, Freshman phenom G.G. Jackson has been incredible, averaging 17.2 points and 7.7 rebounds, while shooting 46% from the floor. Tonight, Jackson finally looked like a freshman, shooting just 4-17 for 11 points and 6 rebounds. Jackson started the game 1-10, and was so frustrated with his first-half performance, that he exited the halftime locker room before the rest of the team to take some extra shots to try to find his rhythm.

He looked visibly frustrated at times tonight on offense and defense and probably pressed a bit too hard once the game was getting out of hand, but he will bounce back, he's simply too good not to. The raw emotion he plays with is helpful when things are going well, but he'll have to make sure he keeps it in check when things don't, but that's something that will come with more experience and maturity for the 17-year-old. The George Washington student section chanted "overrated" at the highly touted recruit, and this was undoubtedly his worst game thus far, but I think history will show he's certainly not overrated, despite sometimes having an off night.

The Gamecocks struggled mightily in the first game outside of the Palmetto state, now they'll stay in DC until Saturday when they take on Georgetown in a morning matchup at 10 am on FS1. The two teams played last year in Columbia, and South Carolina won 80-67, but this is a very different squad in 2022.